JP2025072118A - Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and vehicle control program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicle control device that can restrict a risk reduction processing from being performed unnecessarily.SOLUTION: A vehicle control device comprises: a sensor for acquiring information about an own vehicle and information about an object around the own vehicle; and a processor that can perform a risk reduction processing in which the own vehicle is controlled so that a risk of the own vehicle coming into contact with other vehicle can be reduced on the basis of the information acquired by the sensor. The processor is configured so as to restrict a risk reduction processing from being performed on the basis of the information acquired by the sensor under a specific situation, in which the own vehicle is running along a first lane; the other vehicle is running along an adjacent second lane; the own vehicle detects an obstacle on the second lane in front of the other vehicle; the other vehicle is moving toward the first lane with a lateral speed when approaching to the obstacle; and the own vehicle detects that the lateral speed from the second lane side to the first lane side is decreased.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, and a vehicle control program that are equipped with a function to reduce the risk of contact between a vehicle and another vehicle.

A vehicle control device has been proposed that has a function for reducing the risk of contact between the vehicle and another vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). This vehicle control device (hereinafter referred to as the "conventional device") acquires the path (predicted trajectory) of the vehicle and the path (predicted trajectory) of an oncoming vehicle. When the predicted trajectory of the vehicle and the predicted trajectory of the oncoming vehicle intersect, the conventional device determines that there is a high risk of contact between the vehicle and the oncoming vehicle, and executes processing to reduce the risk (risk reduction processing).

JP 2020-142665 A

When another vehicle is traveling in the second lane adjacent to the first lane in which the vehicle is traveling, a scenario is conceivable in which the other vehicle moves toward the first lane to avoid an obstacle. In this scenario, the other vehicle may temporarily enter the first lane. In addition, for example, if the obstacle is relatively small and located on the opposite side of the first lane, the other vehicle may be able to avoid the obstacle by simply moving laterally within the second lane without entering the first lane. In this way, the driver of the other vehicle is likely to steer the other vehicle so that the other vehicle takes the shortest possible avoidance course.

The conventional device sequentially acquires the position of the other vehicle. The conventional device acquires the predicted trajectory of the other vehicle based on the change in the acquired position of the other vehicle. In the above scene, when the other vehicle starts to avoid the obstacle, the other vehicle is gradually approaching the first lane. Therefore, the conventional device predicts that "the other vehicle will then continue to move toward the first lane and enter the first lane." When the host vehicle is traveling along the first lane, the conventional device determines that the predicted trajectories of the host vehicle and the other vehicle will intersect, and starts a risk reduction process. In other words, the conventional device starts a risk reduction process at the point when the other vehicle starts to avoid the obstacle.

However, as described above, in this scene, even if another vehicle (part of the other vehicle) enters the first lane, the other vehicle (part of the other vehicle) is only located in the first lane for a short time. Also, there are cases where the other vehicle can avoid the obstacle by simply moving laterally in the second lane. That is, in this scene, the other vehicle only temporarily moves toward the first lane to avoid the obstacle, and it is highly likely that after passing the obstacle, it will quickly move toward the center of the second lane in the width direction (move away from the first lane), and the possibility of contact between the host vehicle and the other vehicle is low. Despite this, the conventional device starts risk reduction processing from the point in time when the other vehicle starts to avoid the obstacle, and the driver of the host vehicle may find the processing annoying.

One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device that can limit the execution of unnecessary risk reduction processing.

In order to solve the above problems, a vehicle control device (1) of the present invention comprises:
A sensor (20) for acquiring information (v0) about a host vehicle (V0) and information (PR, vr) about an object (OB, V1κ) located in the vicinity of the host vehicle;
A processor (10) capable of executing a risk reduction process for controlling a host vehicle so as to reduce a risk of the host vehicle contacting another vehicle based on information acquired from the sensor;
Equipped with.
The processor is configured to limit the execution of the risk reduction processing under a specific situation in which, based on information obtained from the sensor, another vehicle is traveling in a second lane adjacent to a first lane which is the lane of the host vehicle, an obstacle is detected in front of the other vehicle in the second lane, and the lateral speed of the other vehicle moving toward the first lane as it approaches the obstacle is detected to be decreasing from the second lane to the first lane.

Further, a vehicle control method according to the present invention includes:
an information acquisition step of acquiring information about the host vehicle and information about objects located around the host vehicle;
a risk reduction step of executing a risk reduction process for controlling the host vehicle so as to reduce a risk of the host vehicle contacting another vehicle based on the information acquired from the sensor;
Includes.
The risk reduction step includes a process of limiting the execution of the risk reduction process under a specific situation in which, based on information obtained from the sensor, another vehicle is traveling in a second lane adjacent to the first lane, which is the lane of the host vehicle, an obstacle is detected in front of the other vehicle in the second lane, and the lateral speed of the other vehicle moving toward the first lane as it approaches the obstacle is detected to be decreasing from the second lane to the first lane.

Further, the vehicle control program according to the present invention is
The vehicle's computer
an information acquisition step of acquiring information about the host vehicle and information about objects located around the host vehicle;
a risk reduction step of executing a risk reduction process for controlling the host vehicle so as to reduce a risk of the host vehicle contacting another vehicle based on the information acquired from the sensor;
Execute the command.
The risk reduction step includes a process of limiting the execution of the risk reduction process under a specific situation in which, based on information obtained from the sensor, another vehicle is traveling in a second lane adjacent to the first lane, which is the lane of the host vehicle, an obstacle is detected in front of the other vehicle in the second lane, and the lateral speed of the other vehicle moving toward the first lane as it approaches the obstacle is detected to be decreasing from the second lane to the first lane.

As described above, in a scene where another vehicle traveling around the vehicle avoids an obstacle, the driver of the other vehicle is likely to steer the other vehicle so that the other vehicle will take the shortest possible avoidance course. In this case, the lateral speed of the other vehicle is likely to change as follows. The lateral speed increases from the point when the other vehicle starts to avoid the obstacle. The lateral speed becomes maximum before the other vehicle reaches the side of the obstacle, and then decreases as the other vehicle proceeds toward the side of the obstacle. Then, when the other vehicle reaches the side of the obstacle, the lateral speed of the other vehicle is very small, and the other vehicle proceeds toward the center side in the width direction of the second lane immediately after passing the side of the obstacle. Therefore, the processor of the vehicle control device according to the present invention determines (estimates) that the driver of the other vehicle intends to return to the center side of the second lane promptly after passing the side of the obstacle when an obstacle is present in the section in front of the other vehicle in the second lane and the lateral speed of the other vehicle (speed toward the first lane) is decreasing. In this case, the possibility of the vehicle coming into contact with the other vehicle is low. Therefore, in this special situation, the processor limits (suppresses) the execution of risk reduction processing. In other words, the vehicle control device according to the present invention limits the execution of risk reduction processing that is not actually necessary.

In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle control device comprising:
The processor, as the risk reduction process,
A process of acquiring a predicted time until contact between the host vehicle and the other vehicle (TTCκ) based on information acquired from the sensor;
A process of controlling the host vehicle so as to assist a driving operation of braking the host vehicle when the predicted time is equal to or less than a threshold value (TTCκ);
Execute.

As a result, the vehicle is braked by a manual braking operation by the driver of the vehicle and/or automatic braking control by the processor, reducing the risk of contact between the vehicle and another vehicle.

In a vehicle control device according to another aspect of the present invention,
The processor,
assigning a first value (Tα) to the threshold under circumstances other than the particular situation;
The threshold is assigned a second value (Tβ) that is less than the first value under the particular circumstance.

According to this, in situations other than the specific situation (situations in which the lateral speed of the other vehicle is not decreasing), the risk reduction process is started from a point in time when there is a relatively large margin of time before contact between the vehicle and the other vehicle (the point in time when the predicted time until contact between the vehicle and the other vehicle (TTCκ) decreases and falls below a relatively large threshold (Tα) (hereinafter referred to as the "normal processing start point")), resulting in a high level of safety. On the other hand, in the specific situation, the risk reduction process is not started at the above-mentioned normal processing start point, but is started from a point in time when the predicted time further decreases and falls below a relatively small threshold (Tβ). In other words, in the specific situation, the start timing of the risk reduction process is delayed compared to other situations. In other words, in the specific situation, the execution of the risk reduction process is restricted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a first scene in which another vehicle (oncoming vehicle) avoids an obstacle. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a second scene in which another vehicle (a vehicle traveling parallel to the vehicle) avoids an obstacle. FIG. 4 is a graph showing the change in lateral speed when another vehicle avoids an obstacle, and a graph showing the change in threshold value as a parameter used for determining whether or not to start braking assist processing. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a program executed by the CPU to realize the braking assist function.

(Summary)
As shown in Fig. 1, a vehicle control device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle V0 (hereinafter referred to as "own vehicle") equipped with an automatic driving function. The vehicle control device 1 can execute braking assistance control to brake the own vehicle so as to reduce the risk of contact between the own vehicle and another vehicle in a state in which the automatic driving function is disabled and the driver is actively performing driving operations. Furthermore, the vehicle control device 1 has a function of restricting the execution of braking assistance control in a scene in which another vehicle traveling in a lane adjacent to the lane in which the own vehicle is traveling avoids an obstacle.

(Specific Configuration)
As shown in FIG. 1 , the vehicle control device 1 includes an ECU 10 , an on-vehicle sensor 20 , and a braking device 30 .

The ECU 10 is equipped with a microcomputer including a CPU 10a, a ROM 10b (rewritable non-volatile memory), a RAM 10c, a timer 10d, etc. The CPU realizes various functions by executing programs (instructions) stored in the ROM. The ECU 10 is connected to other ECUs via a CAN (Controller Area Network).

The on-board sensors 20 include a camera 21, a millimeter wave radar 22, a vehicle speed sensor 23, and an acceleration sensor 24.

The camera 21 includes an imaging device and an image analysis device. The imaging device has, for example, a built-in CCD. The imaging devices are installed at the front, right side, left side, and rear of the vehicle, and are respectively oriented in the front, right, left, and rear of the vehicle. The imaging devices capture images of the surrounding area of the vehicle at a predetermined frame rate to obtain image data. The image analysis device obtains image data from the imaging device, analyzes the image data, and recognizes (identifies) targets present within the angle of view. For example, the image analysis device recognizes (identifies) lane marks (lane dividing lines, other vehicles (other vehicles V1a, V1b, ... located in lane L2 adjacent to lane L1 in which the vehicle is traveling)), obstacles, etc. The image analysis device provides the recognition results (target identification results) to the ECU 10.

The millimeter wave radar 22 includes a transmitting/receiving unit and a signal processing unit (not shown). The transmitting/receiving unit emits millimeter wave band radio waves (hereinafter referred to as "millimeter waves") to the surrounding area of the vehicle (areas diagonally forward and diagonally backward of the vehicle) and receives millimeter waves (reflected waves) reflected by three-dimensional objects located in the surrounding area (e.g., three-dimensional objects located in lane L2 (other vehicles V1a, V2a, ...)). The signal processing unit acquires various information about each reflection point of the millimeter wave based on physical quantities such as the time from when the transmitting/receiving unit emits the millimeter wave to when it receives the reflected wave, the attenuation level of the reflected wave, and the difference between the frequency of the emitted millimeter wave and the frequency of the received reflected wave. For example, the signal processing unit calculates the position of each reflection point (relative position PR (direction and distance) with respect to the transmitting/receiving unit). The signal processing unit also calculates the speed vr (vector) of each reflection point with respect to the vehicle. The calculation results (data showing the distribution of reflection points (data including the position PR and speed vr of each reflection point)) are then provided to the ECU 10.

The vehicle speed sensor 23 includes a rotation speed measurement circuit and a vehicle speed calculation device. The rotation speed measurement circuit includes a pulse generation circuit that outputs a pulse (electrical signal) each time the vehicle's wheels rotate a predetermined angle, and a counter circuit that counts the number of pulses. The vehicle speed calculation device acquires the output value (number of pulses) of the counter circuit at a predetermined cycle (each time a unit of time elapses) and resets the count value to "0". In this way, the vehicle speed calculation device acquires the number of rotations N of the wheel per unit of time. The vehicle speed calculation device acquires the vehicle speed vs (absolute value of the speed in the front-rear (vertical) direction) of the vehicle by multiplying the number of rotations N by a coefficient k. The vehicle speed calculation device then provides the acquired vehicle speed vs to the ECU 10.

The acceleration sensor 24 includes a piezoelectric element. When the vehicle accelerates (or decelerates) in the longitudinal direction and/or width direction, the piezoelectric element deforms in the longitudinal direction and/or width direction of the vehicle, and the output voltage of the piezoelectric element changes in accordance with the deformation. The acceleration sensor 24 obtains the longitudinal and lateral accelerations of the vehicle based on the output of the piezoelectric element. The acceleration sensor 24 then provides these accelerations to the ECU 10.

The braking device 30 applies braking force to the wheels (brake discs). The braking device 30 includes a brake ECU, brake calipers, etc. The brake ECU acquires information (target value) representing the target braking force from another ECU (e.g., ECU 10), and controls the brake calipers based on the information to make the braking force applied to the brake discs match the target value.

(Braking Assist Function)
When the ignition switch is on, the ECU 10 acquires various information from the vehicle speed sensor 23 at a predetermined cycle, and acquires the time TTCa, TTCb, ... until the host vehicle and the other vehicles V1a, V1b, ... (other vehicles traveling on the lane L2) come into contact with each other based on the information. Specifically, the ECU 10 acquires (calculates) the positions and traveling directions of the host vehicle and the other vehicles V1κ (κ = a, b, ...) at each time T1, T2, ... after the current time T0 based on the information acquired from the on-board sensor 20. When the distance (predicted distance) between the host vehicle and the other vehicle V1κ at the time Tn is equal to or less than a threshold value and the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the traveling direction of the other vehicle are not parallel, the ECU 10 acquires the time from the time T0 to the time Tn as the time TTCκ. The ECU 10 compares the time TTCκ with a threshold value TTCκth preset for the other vehicle V1κ. When the time TTCκ (κ=a, b, ...) is equal to or less than the threshold TTCκth, the ECU 10 executes a risk reduction process for reducing the risk of contact between the host vehicle and the other vehicle V1κ. Specifically, the ECU 10 executes a braking assistance control for controlling the braking device 30 so that the host vehicle is braked. Here, as described later, the ECU 10 determines a value (Tα or Tβ) to be assigned to the threshold TTCκth (TTCath, TTCbth, ...) according to the behavior (lateral speed vyκ) of the other vehicle V1κ (V1a, V1b, ...).

Now, as shown in FIG. 2 or 3, for example, in a scene where the driver of another vehicle V1a traveling around the vehicle performs a driving operation to avoid an obstacle OB (a stationary object or a vehicle traveling at an extremely low speed) located in front (in the direction of travel) of the other vehicle V1a, the driver is likely to steer the other vehicle V1a so that the other vehicle V1a does not deviate from the lane (lane L2) as much as possible (or so that the amount of intrusion (width) into the adjacent lane L1 is as small as possible). In other words, the driver of the other vehicle V1a is likely to steer the other vehicle V1a so that the other vehicle V1a takes the shortest possible avoidance course X. In this case, the lateral speed vya of the other vehicle V1a (the speed in the width direction of the lane L2 from lane L2 to lane L1) is likely to change as follows. In this case, the lateral speed vya (κ=a) is likely to change as shown in FIG. 4. Specifically, the lateral speed vya increases from time t0 when the other vehicle V1a starts to avoid the obstacle OB. The lateral speed vya becomes maximum at time t1 before the other vehicle V1a reaches the side of the obstacle OB, and then decreases as the other vehicle V1a advances toward the side of the obstacle OB. At time t2 when the other vehicle V1a reaches the side of the obstacle OB, the pre-running direction speed vya is minute. The other vehicle V1a advances toward the center in the width direction of the lane L2 immediately after passing the side of the obstacle OB. Therefore, the ECU 10 of the vehicle control device 1 according to the present invention estimates that, when an obstacle OB is present in the section of the lane L2 ahead of the other vehicle V1a and the lateral speed vya of the other vehicle V1a is decreasing, the driver of the other vehicle V1a intends to quickly return to the center of the lane L2 after avoiding the obstacle OB. In this case, even if the host vehicle traveling around the other vehicle V1a in lane L2 continues to travel without decelerating, the host vehicle is unlikely to come into contact with the other vehicle V1a. Therefore, in this situation, it is preferable to limit (suppress) the execution of the risk reduction process (deceleration support control) for reducing the risk of contact between the host vehicle and the other vehicle V1a.

However, even if the possibility of contact between the host vehicle and the other vehicle V1a is low, there may be cases where the possibility of contact between the host vehicle and another vehicle other than the other vehicle V1a is high. For example, in a situation where the lateral speed vyb of the other vehicle V1b (not shown) is increasing at time t1 when the other vehicle V1b moves toward the side of the obstacle OB, the driver of the other vehicle V1b may have the intention to cross the lane L1 or to change lanes to the lane L1. Therefore, in this situation, it is preferable that the braking assistance control for reducing the risk of contact between the host vehicle and the other vehicle V1b is not restricted.

Therefore, when the ECU 10 detects multiple other vehicles V1κ (V1a, V1b, ...), it determines whether or not to limit the brake assist control for each of these other vehicles V1κ (V1a, V1b, ...) to reduce the risk of contact with the vehicle itself. Specifically, when an obstacle OB is present in front of the other vehicles V1κ (in the direction of travel), the ECU 10 sequentially acquires the lateral speeds vyκ of these other vehicles V1κ. That is, the ECU 10 acquires and temporarily stores the lateral speed vyκ[n] of the other vehicles V1κ based on information acquired from the on-board sensor 20, and acquires the lateral speed vyκ[n+1] again after a predetermined short time has elapsed from that point in time. The ECU 10 acquires the difference between the lateral speed vyκ[n+1] and the lateral speed vyκ[n] (change amount Δvyκ=vyκ[n+1]-vyκ[n]).

When the lateral speed vyκ is increasing (Δvyκ>0) based on the change amount Δvyκ, the ECU 10 determines (estimates) that "the other vehicle V1κ may continue to proceed toward the lane L1 after passing the side of the obstacle OB." Therefore, in this case, the ECU 10 does not restrict the brake assist control for reducing the risk of contact between the host vehicle and the other vehicle V1κ. Specifically, the ECU 10 assigns a relatively long time Tα to the threshold TTCκth. As a result, the ECU 10 starts the risk reduction process from the point when the time TTCκ decreases and becomes equal to or less than the relatively large threshold (Tα) (hereinafter referred to as the "normal process start point"). In other words, the ECU 10 is set to start the brake assist control from the point when there is a relatively large margin of time before the host vehicle comes into contact with the other vehicle V1κ.

On the other hand, when the lateral speed vyκ is decreasing (Δvyκ<0), the ECU 10 judges (estimates) that "the other vehicle V1κ is highly likely to move quickly toward the center of the lane L2 after passing the obstacle OB." In this case, the ECU 10 assigns a relatively short time Tβ (<Tα) to the threshold TTCκth. As a result, the brake assist control is not started at the above-mentioned normal processing start point (the point at which the time TTCκ reaches a relatively large threshold (Tα)), but is started when the time TTCκ further decreases and becomes equal to or smaller than the relatively small threshold (Tβ). In other words, in a special situation where an obstacle OB is present in front of the other vehicle V1κ and the lateral speed vyκ is decreasing, the start timing of the risk reduction processing is delayed compared to other situations. In other words, in the specific situation, the execution of the brake assist control is restricted (suppressed).

When the lateral speed vyκ is constant, the ECU 10 maintains the value assigned to the threshold TTCκth. When no obstacle OB is present ahead (in the direction of travel) of the other vehicle V1κ, the ECU 10 assigns the time Tα to the threshold TTCth.

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the lateral velocity vyκ increases from time t0 and reaches a maximum at time t1. Then, the lateral velocity vyκ decreases from time t1. In this example, the ECU 10 detects the decrease in the lateral velocity vyκ for the first time at time t1a (= t1 + Δt). Then, the ECU 10 detects the decrease in the lateral velocity vyκ at each processing timing within the period from time t1a to time t2. Therefore, in this example, a relatively long time Tα is assigned to the threshold value TTCκth in the period from time t0 to time t1a, and a relatively short time Tβ is assigned to the threshold value TTCκth in the period from time t1a to time t2.

Next, referring to FIG. 5, the program PR1 executed by the CPU 10a (hereinafter simply referred to as "CPU") to realize the above-mentioned braking assistance function will be described. When the CPU detects the presence of another vehicle V1κ traveling in lane L2 based on information acquired from the on-board sensor 20, it starts executing the program PR1. Note that when the CPU detects multiple other vehicles V1κ (κ = a, b, ...), it executes the program PR1 for each of the other vehicles V1κ.

(Program PR1)
The CPU starts the execution of the program PR1 from step 100 and proceeds to step 101.

In step 101, the CPU determines whether or not an obstacle OB is present ahead of the other vehicle V1κ (in the direction of travel). If the CPU determines that an obstacle OB is present ahead of the other vehicle V1κ (in the direction of travel) (101: Yes), the process proceeds to step 102. On the other hand, if the CPU does not determine that an obstacle OB is present ahead of the other vehicle V1κ (in the direction of travel) (101: No), the process proceeds to step 105, which will be described later.

In step 102, the CPU obtains the amount of change Δvyκ per unit time in the lateral velocity vyκ of the other vehicle V1κ. The CPU then proceeds to step 103.

In step 103, the CPU determines whether the lateral velocity vyκ is increasing based on the amount of change Δvyκ. If the CPU determines that the lateral velocity vyκ is increasing (Δvyκ>0) (103; Yes), the CPU proceeds to step 105, which will be described later. On the other hand, if the CPU does not determine that the lateral velocity vyκ is increasing (Δvyκ>0) (103; No), the CPU proceeds to step 106, which will be described later.

In step 104, the CPU determines whether the lateral velocity vyκ is decreasing based on the amount of change Δvyκ. If the CPU determines that the lateral velocity vyκ is decreasing (Δvyκ<0) (104: Yes), the process proceeds to step 106, which will be described later. On the other hand, if the CPU does not determine that the lateral velocity vyκ is decreasing (Δvyκ<0) (104; No), the process proceeds to step 1107, which will be described later.

In step 105, the CPU assigns a relatively long time Tα to the threshold TTCκth. The CPU then proceeds to step 107.

In step 106, the CPU assigns a relatively short time Tβ to the threshold TTCκth. The CPU then proceeds to step 107.

In step 107, the CPU acquires the time TTCκ until the host vehicle comes into contact with the other vehicle V1κ. The CPU then proceeds to step 108.

In step 108, the CPU determines whether the time TTCκ is equal to or less than the threshold TTCκth. If the CPU determines that the time TTCκ is equal to or less than the threshold TTCκth (107: Yes), the CPU proceeds to step 109. On the other hand, if the CPU does not determine that the time TTCκ is equal to or less than the threshold TTCκth (107: No), the CPU proceeds to step 110, where it ends the execution of program PR1.

The CPU executes braking assistance control in step 109. The CPU then proceeds to step 110, where it ends execution of program PR1.

(effect)
When an obstacle OB is present in the section of the lane L2 ahead of the other vehicle V1κ and the lateral speed vyκ of the other vehicle V1κ is decreasing, the driver of the other vehicle V1κ is likely to intend to return to the center of the lane L2 quickly after passing the side of the obstacle OB. In this case, even if the host vehicle traveling around the other vehicle V1κ in the lane L1 continues to travel without decelerating, the host vehicle is unlikely to come into contact with the other vehicle V1κ. Therefore, in this situation, the ECU 10 restricts (suppresses) the execution of the braking assistance control. In other words, the vehicle control device 1 restricts the execution of risk reduction processing that is essentially unnecessary.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention, as described below.

<Modification 1>
Instead of or in addition to the braking assistance processing as a risk reduction processing, the ECU 10 may execute an alarm processing that controls an image display device, an audio device, etc. so as to alert the driver of the vehicle that there is a risk of contact between the vehicle and another vehicle.

<Modification 2>
When the ECU 10 detects that the other vehicle V1κ has activated (flashing) its turn signal on the lane L1 side, even if there is an obstacle in front of the other vehicle V1κ and the lateral speed vyκ is decreasing, the ECU 10 may assign a relatively long time Tα to the threshold value TTCκth.

1...vehicle control device, 10...ECU, 20...vehicle sensor, 30...braking device

Claims (5)

A sensor for acquiring information about the host vehicle and information about objects located around the host vehicle;
A processor capable of executing a risk reduction process for controlling the host vehicle so as to reduce a risk of the host vehicle contacting another vehicle based on information acquired from the sensor;
A vehicle control device comprising:
The vehicle control device is configured to limit the execution of the risk reduction processing under a specific situation in which, based on information obtained from the sensor, the processor detects an obstacle located in front of the other vehicle in the second lane, and detects that the lateral speed of the other vehicle moving toward the first lane as it approaches the obstacle is decreasing from the second lane to the first lane. The vehicle control device according to claim 1,
The processor, as the risk reduction process,
A process of acquiring a predicted time until contact between the host vehicle and the other vehicle based on information acquired from the sensor;
A process of controlling the host vehicle so as to assist a driving operation of braking the host vehicle when the predicted time is equal to or less than a threshold value;
A vehicle control device configured to execute the above. The vehicle control device according to claim 2,
The processor,
assigning a first value to the threshold under all circumstances except the particular circumstance;
A vehicle control device configured to assign, under the particular situation, a second value to the threshold that is smaller than the first value. an information acquisition step of acquiring information about the host vehicle and information about objects located around the host vehicle;
a risk reduction step of executing a risk reduction process for controlling the host vehicle so as to reduce a risk of the host vehicle contacting another vehicle based on the information acquired from the sensor;
A vehicle control method comprising:
The vehicle control method is configured such that the risk reduction step includes a process of limiting the execution of the risk reduction process under a specific situation in which, based on information acquired from the sensor, another vehicle is traveling in a second lane adjacent to a first lane which is the lane of the host vehicle, an obstacle is detected in front of the other vehicle in the second lane, and the lateral speed of the other vehicle moving toward the first lane as it approaches the obstacle is detected to be decreasing from the second lane to the first lane. The vehicle's computer
an information acquisition step of acquiring information about the host vehicle and information about objects located around the host vehicle;
a risk reduction step of executing a risk reduction process for controlling the host vehicle so as to reduce a risk of the host vehicle contacting another vehicle based on the information acquired from the sensor;
A vehicle control program for executing
The risk reduction step is a vehicle control program configured to include a process of limiting execution of the risk reduction process under a specific situation in which, based on information acquired from the sensor, another vehicle is traveling in a second lane adjacent to a first lane which is the lane of the vehicle, an obstacle is detected in front of the other vehicle in the second lane, and the lateral speed of the other vehicle moving toward the first lane as it approaches the obstacle is detected to be decreasing from the second lane to the first lane.

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